Compartmented container with extensible handle



J. VESAK 3,079,040 COMPARTMENTED CONTAINER WITH EXTENSIBLE HANDLE Feb. 26, 1963 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed March 23, 1962 EFL... ill

' my wuaa J. VESAK 3,079,040 COMPARTMENTED CONTAINER WITH EXTENSIBLE HANDLE Feb. 26, 19 3 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 25, 1962 Feb. 26, 1963 J. VESAK 3,079,040

- COMPARTMENTED CONTAINER WITH EXTENSIBLE HANDLE Filed Ma rch 25, 1962 s Sheets-Sheet z J. VESAK 3,079,040 COMPARTMENTED CONTAINER WITH EXTENSIBLE HANDLE Feb. 26, 1963 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed March 23, 1962 E? 8i WM 6 Mm/1, fi k/7f W I 3,079,040 COMPARTMENTED CONTAINER WITH EXTENSIBLE HANDLE Filed March 23, 1962 J. VESAK Feb. 26, 1963 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 United States Patent 3,079,040 COMPARTMENTED CONTAINER WITH EXTENSIBLE HANDLE Joseph Vesak, Richmond, British Columbia, Canada, as-

signor, by mesne assignments, to Unipak Cartons Ltd., Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada Filed Mar. 23, 1962, Ser. No. 181,988 Claims priority, application Canada Dec. 28, 1961 Claims. (Cl. 220-105) This invention relates to cartons of the type having an interior assembly therein defining article receiving compartments and including an extensible handle and has, for its object, the provision of an improved carton requiring less material for its construction than hitherto similar known cartons.

Accordingly, the present invention relates to a carton having an integral Wall structure including end Walls, side walls, and a bottom; an interior assembly located within said carton; said assembly including a handle member, having a main body portion and a hand-carrying portion, movable upwardly from a first retracted position from within the carton to a second position where said hand-carrying portion is projected above said wall structure for carrying purposes, and vice versa, said main body portion constituting a partition extending between a mutually opposed pair of said walls to divide the latter into a pair of adjacent article receiving compartments; a pair of stop members each integrally and hingedly connected to an adjacent lower terminal end of said partition; a pair of deformable spacing members each integrally connected, at the lower end thereof, to the upper edge of an associated said stop member; and a pair of load-bearing member in spaced relationship with its associated said integrally connected, at its lower edge, to the upper end of an associated said spacing member; each of said spacing members thereby maintaining each said load-bearing member in spaced relationship with its assocsiated said stop member when said handle member is in its said first retracted position; each said spacing member and its associated stop member being normal to said partition and coplanar with its associated said load-bearing member when said handle member is in its said first retracted position; said upward movement of said handle member causing each said spacing member to deform and permit each said stop member to move upwardly in coplanar relationship with its associated said load-bearing member whereby each said stop member and its associated said spacing member cooperate with its said associated loadbearing member to limit the amount of said upward movement of said handle member; each said spacing member cooperating with its associated load-bearing member and associated stop member to limit the amount of downward movement of said handle member to its first retracted position.

The invention is illustrated, by way of example, in the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a one-piece blank adapted to form the wall structure of the carton as well as an integral top closure therefor.

FIGURE 2 is a plan view of a one-piece blank adapted to form the interior assembly of a carton and which is also adapted to extend along the longitudinal axis of the carton;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of an assembled carton, partly broken away to shown the interior assembly with the handle member in its first retracted position;

FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 3 but showing the handle member in its second operative position where its hand-carrying portion projects above the type of carton provided with an integral top closure;

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FIG. 5 is a plan view of a common one-piece blank adapted to form the wall structure of a carton provided with an integral top closure as well as an integral interior assembly.

FIG. 6 is a view similar to FIG. 2 but showing a slight modification to the interior assembly;

FIG. 7 is a view similar to FIG. 3 but showing the handle member extending along the central transverse axis of the carton; and

FIG. 8 is a view similar to FIG. 5 but showing the interior assembly integrally connected to an end wall of the carton.

Referring to the drawings, and in particular to FIG. 1, the one-piece blank of resilient material shown therein is scored and incised to provide a plurality of panels adapted to form side walls 10, 11, end walls 12 and 13, top end closures 14, top side closures 15, bottom end closures 16 and bottom side closures 17. If desired, the top side closure flaps may be recessed (not shown) and they each may have a hingeable tab 18 so as to form a finger aperture. The free end of side wall 10 is provided with an elongated hingeable tab 19, known in the art as a manuafcturers gap or closure, which is adapted to be united with a strip 20 of pressure sensitive adhesive located adjacent to a free marginal side edge of the end wall 13, by pressure sensitive adhesive located on its undersurface. Pressure sensitive adhesive is preferably employed throughout the manufacture of the carton to its knock-down form.

End wall 12 is provided with a strip 21 of pressure sensitive adhesive as is end wall 13 where indicated at 22.

Referring now to FIG. 2, the one-piece blank of resilient material shown therein is scored and incised so as to provide a handle member having an elongated main body portion 25 of a length substantially equal to the length of the interior of the carton. The main body portion 25 of the handle member is provided with a pair of shoulders 26 and a reduced carrying portion 27 and a handle 28. A common score line 29 connects the reduced carrying portion 27 with a strengthening panel 30 also provided with a handhole 31 corresponding to the handhole 28 The upper side (as viewed in FIG. 2) of the reduced carrying portion 27 and the strengthening panel 30 is coated with pressure sensitive adhesive.

As will be seen from FIG. 2, a pair of stop members 32 are also provided and each of said members is integrally and hingedly connected, by means of acommon score line 33, to an adjacent lower terminal end of the main body portion. The upper edge of each of the stop members 32 is integrally and hingedly connected to the lower end of an associated spacing member indicated gen erally at 34 and the upper end of the latter is integrally and hingedly connected to an associated load-bearing member 35, '35.

As viewed in FIG. 2, the upper surface of the loadbearing member 35', as well as the undersurface of the load-bearing member 35, is coated with pressure sensitive adhesive, and the upper surface of the right-hand spacing member 34, is well as the undersurface of the left-hand spacing member 34, is provided with a plurality of spaced score lines 36.

In assembling the first embodiment of the invention to knock-down form, the handle member formed by the blank shown in FIG. 2 is placed downwardly on the blank shown in FIG. 1 so that the coated surface of the load-bearing member 35 will be in registry with coated strip 21 on end wall 12. Side wall panel 10 is then folded along score line 37, integrally connecting said panel to end wall panel 12, so that the coated surface on the tab 19 will be facing uppermost. iFinally, end wall panel 13 is folded along score line 38, integrally connecting said panel to side wall panel '11, so that its coated strip will be in registry with the coated face of the tab 19 on side wall panel 10, and so that its coated strip 22 will be in registry with the coated face of the loadbearing member 35'. Pressure is then brought to bear on the compartments to form a knock-down carton.

To assemble a carton for filling purposes, a knock-down carton is erected and the bottom closure portions 16, 17 closed and sealed with glue, tape, or by means of staples, in known manner.

After the carton has been filled with the desired contents, the top closure portions '14, 15 are folded down and the top of the carton sealed by adhesive, tape, or staples in known manner.

When the carton is erected, due to the adhesion between the load-bearing members 35, 35' and the end walls 12, 13, the stop members 32 will hinge about the score lines 33 whereby the handle member will extend along the central longitudinal axis of the carton so that the main body portion 25 will serve as a longitudinal partition dividing the interior of the carton into a pair of adjacent article receiving compartments as is shown in FIG. 3. As will also be seen from reference to FIG. 3, each of the spacing members 34 and its associated stop member 32, is normal to the longitudinal partition 25 and coplanar with its associated load-bearing member when the handle member is in its lowermost or first retracted position.

When it is desired to carry a filled carton, the user merely grips the upper edge of the hand-carrying portion of the handle which is located immediately below and between the top side flaps 15, and pulls upwardly so that said hand-carrying portion will project above the top closure where its handhole can be grasped for carrying purposes.

Due to the hand-carrying portion moving upwardly, the longitudinal partition 25 will also move upwardly together with the pair of stop members 32. Such movement causes the pair of spacing members 34, due to the score lines 36, to deform, as is shown in H6. 4, and permits the pair of stop members 32 to move upwardly in coplanar relationship with the associated load-bearing member 35 whereby each of the stop members 32 and the associated spacing members 34 cooperate with the load-bearing members 35, 35' to limit the amount of upward movement of the handle member in a second position where the hand-carrying portion projects above the topclosure of the carton. Obviously, the spacing members 34 will cooperate with load-bearing members 35, 35 and stop members 32 to limit the amount of downward movement of the handle member.

When the reduced carrying portion of the handle has been projected above the top closure of the carton, the user merely inserts a hand in the handhole and lifts the carton by the handle member. Thus, when a closed and filled carton is carried, the load is distributed throughout the carton by reason of the shoulders 26 abutting the underside of the top closure, as is shown in FIG. 4, and by reason of the cooperation of the spacing members 34 and stop members 32 with the load-bearing members 35, 35 inasmuch as the latter are secured in face-to-face contact with the end walls of the carton.

Moreover, once the top closure flaps have been disturbed to gain access to the contents of the cartomthe latter can still be carried by the handle member due to the load bearing members 35, 35 being secured to the end walls and due to the integral connection between said load bearing members 35, 35' and the handle member, via the spacing members 34, the stop members 32 and the score lines 33.

When the handle member is pushed downwardly into the carton, the amount of its downward movement to its first retracted position will be limited due to the spacing members 34 regaining their coplanar relationship with the load-bearing members 35, 35 and the stop members 32.

Whilst the carton forming the first embodiment described above and shown in H68. 1 to 4 of the accom panying drawings is constructed from two separate onepiece blanks of resilient material, a similar carton can, if desired, be constructed from a single one-piece blank as is shown in FIG. 5.

As will be seen from reference to FIG. 5, load-bearing member 35 is integrally connected to side wall panel '11 by means of a common score line 39 and is of a depth substantially equal to the depth of said side wall panel 11 and of a width substantially equal to half the width of the carton. To form a knock-down carton from the onepiece blank shown in FIG. 5, the handle panel 30 is folded down on to handle panel 27 along the common score line 29 so that their coated areas will be in registry with one another. Thereafter, the load-bearing member 35 is folded along score line 39 which will bring its coated surface (not shown) uppermost and the coated surface of load-bearing member 35' into registry with the coated strip 21 on end wall panel 12. Side wall panel 10 is then folded along score line 37 to bring the coated strip 22 on end wall panel 13 into registry with the coated surface of load-bearing member 35. Pressure is then applied to the blank to bring about adhesion between the various coated surfaces. The operation of the carton formed by the onepiece blank shown in FIG. 5 is the same as that described above in connection with the first embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 to 4 and, in consequence, it is felt unnecessary to comment further on the second embodiment of the invention.

Alternatively, and if desired, a carton incorporating the features of the present invention can be formed from the onepiece blank shown in FIG. 8 where the load bearing-member 35' is integrally connected to end wall panel 13 by means of a common score line 40, the formation of a knock-down carton being somewhat on the lines of that just described in connection with the onepiece blanks shown in FIG. 5, with the exception that the load-bearin g member 35 is folded back along the score line at so that its coated surface registers with the coated strip 22 on end wall panel 13 and so that the coated surface (not shown) of the load-bearing member 35, faces upwardly. Moreover, as will be seen from FIGURE 8, the hingeable tab 19 integrally connected to end wall panel 11 is coated on its upper surface and a similar area (not shown) on the underside of end wall panel 13 is also coated with adhesive. Consequently, when the handle member is positioned so that it partially overlies end wall panel 13 and side wall panel 10, end wall panel 12 is ,folded along the score line 37 which will bring the coated strip 21 on the latter into registry with the coated surface of the load supporting member 35. The assembly thus formed is now turned completely over through an angle of 180 to permit the tab 19 to be folded along score line 41 so that its coated surface will be in registry with the coated area of the end wall 13. Pressure is then applied to bring about adhesion between the various components of the carton.

As will be appreciated, although with the forms of the invention shown in FIGS. 1 to 5 and 8, the handle member extends along the longitudinal axis of the carton, it is possible for said member to extend along the transverse axis of the carton, whilst still retaining the essence of the invention, as is shown in FIGS. 6 and 7.

Moreover, although the invention has been shown as applied to the type of carton provided with a top closure,

/ it is equally applicable to an opentopped type of carton.

Aswill be seen from reference to FIGS. 2 and 3, the spacing members 3'4, when the handle member is in its first retracted position, are each located immediately adjacent to an associated terminal end edge of the longitudinal partition 35 However, theinvention is not limited to the exact form shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 because, as will be seen from FIG. 6, the spacing members 34.021111 each be spaced from an associated terminal end edge of the partition 25.

I claim:

1. A carton having an integral wall structure including end walls, side walls, and a bottom; an interior assembly located within said carton; said assembly including a handle member, having a main body portion and a handca-rrying portion, movable upwardly from a first retracted position from within the carton to a second position where said hand-carrying portion is projected above said wall structure for carrying purposes, and vice versa, said main body portion constituting a partition extending between a mutually opposed pair of said walls to divide the latter into a pair of adjacent article receiving compartments; a pair of stop members each integrally and hingedly connected to an adjacent lower terminal end of said partition; a pair of deformable spacing members each integrally connected, at the lower end thereof, to the upper edge of an associated said stop member; and a pair of load-bearing members each secured to an adjacent said end wall and integrally connected, at its lower edge, to the upper end of an associated said spacing member; each of said spacing members thereby maintaining each said load-bearing member in spaced relationship with its associated said stop member when said handle member is in its said first retracted position; each said spacing member and its associated stop member being normal to said partition and coplanar with its associated said loadbearing member when said handle member is in its said first retracted position; said upward movement of said handle member causing each said spacing member to deform and permit each said stop member to move upwardly in coplanar relationship with its associated said load-bearing member whereby each said stop member and its associated said spacing member cooperate with its said associated load-bearing member to limit the amount of said upward movement of said handle member; each said spacing member cooperating with its associated loadbearing member and associated stop member to limit the amount of downward movement of said handle member to its first retracted position.

2. A carton according to claim 1 wherein said partition extends along the longitudinal axis of said carton.

3. A carton according to claim 1 wherein said partition extends along the transverse axis of saidcazton.

4. A carton according to claim 1 wherein each of said spacing member is provided with a plurality of transverse score lines to assist said deformation thereof.

5. A carton according to claim 1 wherein each of said spacing members is located, when said handle member is in its said first retracted position, immediately adajcent to an associated terminal end edge of said partition.

6. A carton according to claim 1 wherein each of said spacing members, when said handle member is in its said first retracted position, is spaced :from an associated terminal end edge of said partition.

7. A carton accordingto claim 1 wherein said wall structure is formed from a first one-piece blank of resilient material and said interior assembly is formed from a second one-piece blank of resilient material.

8. A carton according to claim 7 including a top closure for said carton and wherein said handle member is movable upwardly from a first retracted position from within the carton and beneath said top closure, when the latter is in closed operative position, to a second position where said hand-carrying portion is projected above said top closure for carrying purposes.

9. A carton according to claim 1 wherein said wall structure and said interior assembly are both formed from a common oneapiece blank.

10. A carton according to claim 9 including a top closure for said carton and wherein said handle member is movable upwardly from a first retracted position from within the carton and beneath said top closure, when the latter is in closed operative position, to a second position where said hand-carrying portion is projected above said top closure for carrying purposes.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

1. A CARTON HAVING AN INTEGRAL WALL STRUCTURE INCLUDING END WALLS, SIDE WALLS, AND A BOTTOM; AN INTERIOR ASSEMBLY LOCATED WITHIN SAID CARTON; SAID ASSEMBLY INCLUDING A HANDLE MEMBER, HAVING A MAIN BODY PORTION AND A HANDCARRYING PORTION, MOVABLE UPWARDLY FROM A FIRST RETRACTED POSITION FROM WITHIN THE CARTON TO A SECOND POSITION WHERE SAID HAND-CARRYING PORTION IS PROJECTED ABOVE SAID WALL STRUCTURE FOR CARRYING PURPOSES, AND VICE VERSA, SAID MAIN BODY PORTION CONSTITUTING A PARTITION EXTENDING BETWEEN A MUTUALLY OPPOSED PAIR OF SAID WALLS TO DIVIDE THE LATTER INTO A PAIR OF ADJACENT ARTICLE RECEIVING COMPARTMENTS; A PAIR OF STOP MEMBERS EACH INTEGRALLY AND HINGEDLY CONNECTED TO AN ADJACENT LOWER TERMINAL END OF SAID PARTITION; A PAIR OF DEFORMABLE SPACING MEMBERS EACH INTEGRALLY CONNECTED, AT THE LOWER END THEREOF, TO THE UPPER EDGE OF AN ASSOCIATED SAID STOP MEMBER; AND A PAIR OF LOAD-BEARING MEMBERS EACH SECURED TO AN ADJACENT SAID END WALL AND INTEGRALLY CONNECTED, AT ITS LOWER EDGE, TO THE UPPER END OF AN ASSOCIATED SAID SPACING MEMBER; EACH OF SAID SPACING MEMBERS THEREBY MAINTAINING EACH SAID LOAD-BEARING MEMBER IN SPACED RELATIONSHIP WITH ITS ASSOCIATED SAID STOP MEMBER WHEN SAID HANDLE MEMBER IS IN ITS SAID FIRST RETRACTED POSITION; EACH SAID SPACING MEMBER AND ITS ASSOCIATED STOP MEMBER BEING NORMAL TO SAID PARTITION AND COPLANAR WITH ITS ASSOCIATED SAID LOADBEARING MEMBER WHEN SAID HANDLE MEMBER IS IN ITS SAID FIRST RETRACTED POSITION; SAID UPWARD MOVEMENT OF SAID HANDLE MEMBER CAUSING EACH SAID SPACING MEMBER TO DEFORM AND PERMIT EACH SAID STOP MEMBER TO MOVE UPWARDLY IN COPLANAR RELATIONSHIP WITH ITS ASSOCIATED SAID LOAD-BEARING MEMBER WHEREBY EACH SAID STOP MEMBER AND ITS ASSOCIATED SAID SPACING MEMBER COOPERATE WITH ITS SAID ASSOCIATED LOAD-BEARING MEMBER TO LIMIT THE AMOUNT OF SAID UPWARD MOVEMENT OF SAID HANDLE MEMBER; EACH SAID SPACING MEMBER COOPERATING WITH ITS ASSOCIATED LOADBEARING MEMBER AND ASSOCIATED STOP MEMBER TO LIMIT THE AMOUNT OF DOWNWARD MOVEMENT OF SAID HANDLE MEMBER TO ITS FIRST RETRACTED POSITION. 